A wide variety of different types of devices (commonly referred to as “accelerometers”) that are capable of sensing acceleration have been developed. The most common types of accelerometers measure accelerations by sensing changes in one of more of the following physical parameters in response to acceleration: piezoelectric voltage, capacitance, piezoresistance, magnetic inductance, and resonance. Some accelerometers, such as force balance pendulous accelerometers, measure linear acceleration along one, two or three axes. These types of accelerometers typically use a spring mechanism to measure the inertia associated with the acceleration of a test mass. Other accelerometers, such as gyrometers, measure circular or angular acceleration.
Existing accelerometers that are capable of accurately measuring static or low frequency accelerations tend to be expensive or relatively large in size. What is needed is a small and low-cost accelerometer that is capable of measuring static or low frequency accelerations, such as those commonly found in human motion (e.g., due to hand shaking).